The Evil Of Forgetting And The Punishment Of Memory

Shusaku Endo's war-themed novel,though not his mainstream works,has its unique value.In these novels,Endo putsJapanese in the conflict of evil and conscience,and makes some profound discussion and reflection on the evil and conscience of human nature as well as the value and morality of society.Based on Endo's war-themed novels and focusing on social realities instead of the study of his literature,this thesis explores the historical truths and distorted social ideologies revealed by Endo under the cover of history books written in biographical style.At the same time,through the comparative analysis of Endo's works,the thesis tries to describe Japanese's mental attitude in his novel,as well as the social reality thatfaced with evil,a moreand a stricter punishment are respectively needed in Japanese society and personal morality.Based on this,further discussions are made about Japanese ideological and emotional values,social ethics as well as other issues.Shusaku Endo's literary works have a distinctive religious overtone,so both Chinese academics and Japanese scholars are more concentrated in this aspect.However,Endo is not a priest of spreading theology.His works not only care about people's faith but think about the “way out”of Japanese spirit.He tries to waken the conscience of human nature and exposes the insufficient social punishment;he sympathizes with the helplessness of the weak and criticizes the incompetence of the social elite;he is not only a believer but also a responsible writer.Endo's personal religious view provide perspective for the author to think,but not the full significance of his literary works.So there are still lots of perspectives and space worthy of trying and exploring on the study of Shusaku Endo's literature.This thesis attempts to interpret Shusaku Endo's war-themed novels from the perspective of historical philosophy,so as to show the thought of human conscience and the exploration of social morality.On the basis of previous research,the thesis is to show the more realistic and simple thinking about Japanese society and its people in Shusaku Endo's works despite of its religious content.